Sports/Activity Injury

Sports/Activity Injury Many of us love to be active and this is a great way to live, in health terms. However, being active inevitable puts a certain amount of strain on the body, most of which can be beneficial but some of which might cause us damage. Some activities such as contact sports can cause specific ‘acute’ injuries such as a torn ligaments/muscles or strained joints. Other activities such as running, tennis or golf can cause more ‘chronic’ repetitive strain injury. As these activities are often essential to our well-being it is important to sort them out quickly and efficiently. Often the causes are straightforward, like over-exertion, over-eagerness, insufficient warm-up, insufficient stretching, bad posture, etc. However, sometimes the symptoms seemingly come from nowhere despite our best efforts. Symptoms of acute injury:

Rapid onset of pain, often associated with an ‘incident’

Onset associated with an activity

Inflammation, swelling, heat, redness in area

Loss of movement Symptoms of chronic problems

Gradual onset of pain

Aggravated by a specific activity

Long-lasting ache

Gradually worsening Inflammation, swelling, heat, redness in area

Gradual loss of movement

Both acute and chronic sports/activity injuries require a careful and expert diagnosis by a trained professional. They are very common presentations in clinic and where appropriate, receives careful and expert treatment. Firstly an assessment and analysis is performed to establish how serious the problem is and then, if appropriate, gentle treatment is performed to mobilize structures, decreasing inflammation, and freeing up the structures causing the symptoms. This reduces pain and increases mobility. Ultimately the aim is not just to treat it but prevent the symptoms from reoccurring. This includes education on how to keep the area in question healthy in the future. Please call to talk to a trained professional if you want to know more.